During the 1920s and ‘30s, Muncie's Southside was a gathering place for the community. Picturesque, upper-class homes lined Madison Street. Each area featured its own ice cream shop, grocery store and churches.
"Everyone met at Heekin Park," Rodney Qualkinbush, a member and volunteer at the Delaware County Historical Society, recalled. "There were bear shows and people would play horseshoes."
He said he remembers the Southside in those days as a place in which people took pride.
"Monday was laundry day, and the women would hang their clothes outside to dry," Qualkinbush said.
Those were the good old days.
Then manufacturing, a key part of the economy, began to decline. When Ball State University expanded in the late ‘40s and ‘50s, residents increasingly moved away from the Southside in favor of the west side of town. Gradually, the area fell into disrepair.
Today, pastel-colored government housing sits beside lifeless homes that are long forgotten. The neighborhood ice cream shops and grocery stores are but a distant memory. Heekin Park, though still utilized, lacks the energy it once exuded. The Muncie Action Plan (MAP) strives to change that.
Gail Chesterfield, east-central chancellor of Ivy Tech Community College, and Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley discussed expanding Ivy Tech's downtown campus. However, Chesterfield was concerned Muncie lacked a long-term plan. McShurley agreed, so they gathered funds and selected a committee to run MAP.
Virginia Nilles, co-director of MAP along with Dr. George Branam, said she thought something like MAP was important.
"I know that if you don't have a plan, then everything is equally important. There are no priorities," Nilles said. "I love the community, I value planning and thought I had the skills to contribute."
This plan encompasses all of Muncie, addressing issues like amenities offered to the community, leadership and education. As part of MAP, strong and weak parts of the community were plotted. Many of the weak spots appeared in the Southside.
"In that respect, developing an action plan that turns weak places into strong places, a lot of the focus has to be here," Nilles said.
Returning the Southside to its original liveliness is a task for the whole community. Nilles is especially invested in one particular part of MAP — creating stable neighborhood associations.
"Southside is a huge neighborhood, but it probably needs to be broken down," she said. "I think, individually, we are so much weaker than we are collectively, so if we can figure out a way to get these neighborhood groups together and to focus on issues and problems in the neighborhood, then we can pursue avenues for funding and neighborhood cleanup."
Through this coming together, she said she thinks leadership and pride can emerge. Southside is by no means lost.
"I think the Southside is one of the best places in Muncie," Nilles said. "It's got nice housing stock, beautiful property, nice green spaces. My vision would be a more educated populace that can come together and discuss things."
Nilles said MAP is a process for the whole Muncie community. Through its adoption, residents and visitors can experience its true potential.
"It's a way to communicate; it's a way to get things done; it's a way to action and problem solving," she said. "If we can learn this process well, as a community, we can accomplish a lot."
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